LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

[January 31st, 2007] CHILDREN OF A CLOCKWORK BRAZILIAN MONKEY RUNNER

It may be only January, but Aaron Mesh's review of Children of Men could be the most egregiously hyperbolic and shortsighted of the year. Listen, I like dystopian sci-fi as much as the next guy, but it was essentially one long chase movie with a faint Nativity vibe.

It seems that the critic's responsibility is to situate a film in context, something that Mr. Mesh fails to do. Instead, he writes, absurdly, "It feels like nothing else I've seen." He surely has seen one or all of the following movies, with which Children of Men has something in common: Blade Runner, Brazil, 12 Monkeys, A Clockwork Orange, Minority Report. Hell, even the pretty crappy V for Vendetta has rebels fighting a fascist English government. 1984 and Brave New World are also obvious precedents. Or how about the cover of Pink Floyd's Animals, which the film references? There's something you've seen before.

It's one thing to like a film, but it's a failure on a critic's part to heap praise on a film without pausing to reflect or to rein in some of their enthusiasm. That may be appropriate for a blog, but not for a supposedly respected weekly paper.

"The rebirth of cinema." Come on.

Lukas Sherman
Via wweek.com

TOKIN' RESISTANCE

As a nonprofit organization involved in drug and alcohol prevention, we at Oregon Partnership agree with most doctors, educators and parents that marijuana does a whole lot more harm than good ["Garden of Weedin'," WW, Jan. 24, 2007].

Despite the obvious zeal that growers have in cultivating "legal" marijuana, let's remember that marijuana contains more cancer-causing agents than cigarettes, that marijuana use is three times more likely to lead to dependence among adolescents than adults, and that marijuana is at the top of the list in auto injury accidents involving illegal drugs.

We need to take a close look at the potential for fraud and abuse with medical marijuana and whether the hundreds of people each month applying for medical marijuana cards are making a joke of the system. We should be alarmed that Oregon has 19,000 medical marijuana card holders (including care givers) with just four doctors in the entire state responsible for 60 percent of those cards.

Perhaps you should have talked with those in the medical community who know that legal prescription drugs today can have the same or better effects on alleviating pain than marijuana.

Judy Cushing
President and CEO
Oregon Partnership